


Auntie Barbara

by maiden_aunt (SCFrankles)



Series: The Enchanting World of Reaper and Bracket [3]
Category: Dear Ladies (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Baba Yaga - Freeform, Gen, Grim Reaper!Evadne, Halloween, Immortal!Hilda, Spook Me Multi-Fandom Halloween Ficathon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-07 21:46:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16416560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SCFrankles/pseuds/maiden_aunt
Summary: There seem to be fewer and fewer people around Stackton at the moment. Perhaps the Bugle's new agony aunt has some answers for Evadne and Hilda.





	Auntie Barbara

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [Spook Me Multi-Fandom Halloween Ficathon 2018](https://spook-me.dreamwidth.org/14570.html). You can see the picture prompt I used [here](https://images46.fotki.com/v521/photos/6/3814576/14859667/babayaga-vi.png).
> 
>  
> 
> Hinge and Bracket were created by Patrick Fyffe and George Logan. Dear Ladies was written by Fyffe and Logan, and Gyles Brandreth, and produced by the BBC. Additional characters mentioned in the fic are from The Random Jottings of Hinge and Bracket, which was written by Gerald Frow.
> 
> * * *

Even in the midst of death, they were in life.

The Grim Reaper—collector of souls, easer of all pain, extinguisher of all cares—sat on the sofa, working on making a house out of playing cards. While the Merry Bird-Scarer—helpmeet of the vulnerable, a companion in the darkness, wearer of fabulous frocks—sat in her armchair with her reading glasses on, flicking through a copy of the Stackton Bugle.

Hilda shook her head as she read. “You know, dear, I think Stackton has finally gone to pot.”

“What’s that, Hilda?” Evadne put the final card in place. “There! Done!”

Hilda glanced up at her. “I’m just saying Stackton is not what it was. Well, what about this for instance?” 

She looked back down at the page. 

“Apparently all they could come up with for the talk at last week’s WI meeting was ‘Myths of the Eastern Slavic People’. Sounds even more boring than your talk on Boadicea.”

Evadne frowned and looked up. _“Boudicca_ was a dear friend and I won’t have a word spoken against her.” 

Hilda wasn’t paying attention. “And what about this? Apparently there are now so few volunteers, you have to be over ninety and be prepared to do your own washing up to get meals on wheels! And there’s an interview with the vicar explaining how lack of volunteers has led to him using plastic flowers on the altar.”

Hilda turned another page.

“And I have to say I _really_ regret giving my column to Auntie Barbara.”

Evadne raised her eyebrows. “Relative… of yours, dear?”

Hilda glanced up again. “I’m talking about the agony aunt column. Remember I was ‘Auntie Phyllis’? And now my replacement’s an ‘Auntie Barbara’. Well, to be formal, she’s a Mrs. Yaeger.”

She shook her head at the page.

“She seemed all right when I met her to hand over the reins but really… Just listen to this:

_Dear Auntie Barbara,_

_I am a widow of some years but still in the prime of my life. Naturally I like to occasionally enjoy the company of a gentleman but this tends to encourage gossip. Can you give me any advice on how to get some respite from other people’s opinions?_

_From Frustrated_

And the answer is:

_Why are you bothering me with this question? I’m sure you know the answer to that one yourself.”_

Hilda raised her head sharply.

“What do you think about that!”

Evadne looked thoughtful. “It’s from Naomi Mellinger, isn’t it? Though I’d hardly say she was in the _prime_ of life.”

“No, dear.” Hilda nodded at the page. “I meant, what did you think about the answer? It hardly seems helpful. And here’s another:

_I helps out two ladies what lives together with some cleaning most days….”_

“I wonder who _that_ can be from,” muttered Evadne.

“Just listen, Evadne!” 

Hilda continued on:

_“...some cleaning most days. One lady is refined, good-natured and elegant…”_ Hilda preened slightly. _“... but the other is impatient and bad-tempered. It might be because she’s been Doctored—”_

Evadne’s eyebrows rose.

_“—and so she thinks she’s cleverer and better than most._ Oo, she’s got quite a way with the thumbnail sketch, hasn’t she?”

Evadne glared in Hilda’s direction. “Do get on with it, dear.”

_“I can’t help it if I have the occasional accident while dusting. Or vacuuming. Or doing the washing up. I don’t do these things deliberate like. Please can you give me advice on how I can get the bad-tempered one to stop being so bad-tempered?”_

Hilda paused in her reading.

“Oh, dear. Maud’s signed it ‘A Scrubber’.”

Evadne sighed. “What does Auntie Barbara have to say then?”

“Well, that’s the thing.” Hilda furrowed her brow as considered the page. “Auntie Barbara says she thinks she might be able to sort things out, and she will contacting ‘A Scrubber’ privately.”

Hilda looked up. 

“That’s ever so unprofessional. It’s not wise to establish that sort of precedent.”

Evadne shrugged. “It’s up to her though, if she wants to do it.”

“Perhaps,” said Hilda. “But what about this last one:

_I work full time in my elderly father’s business, essentially taking full responsibility for everything. My father has just remarried, and I—”_

Evadne interrupted. “That’s Tewksbury Ptolman, isn’t it? Good gracious, in a place this size I don’t know why they don’t just sign their letters and be done with it.”

Hilda sighed but nodded in agreement. She continued on. 

_“...and I have nothing against his new wife but I have now learnt my father has changed his will and wants to leave the business to her rather than to me as planned. I believe this to be unfair after all the work I’ve put into it. Can you give me any advice?_

And Auntie Barbara answers:

_You are welcome to speak to me about that in person. If you can track me down.”_

Hilda looked up.

“It’s all so unprofessional.”

Evadne rolled her eyes. “Maybe so, but you shouldn’t wind yourself up about it, Hilda. It’s not your responsibility any more.”

“But it is in a way!”

Hilda threw the paper aside and whipped off her glasses.

“Since helping you out—and _especially_ since I became the Merry Bird-Scarer—I’ve let things go in Stackton. I’ve got so involved in my new responsibilities that I’ve let everything else slide!”

“Yes… I suppose that is true.” Evadne furrowed her brow. “But I’m not one to talk—I’ve rather let things slide as well recently. To be honest, I can’t recall the last time I attended a council meeting. Or even chatted with a neighbour. I feel rather bad about that.”

“It’s all easily solved though,” said Hilda.

Evadne looked at her. “Yes?”

“Yes!” Hilda smiled and slapped the arm of her chair. “Let’s both agree to just get stuck in again! Starting tomorrow!” 

 

 

“Oh, great heavens!” 

Hilda staggered into the lounge and sank onto the sofa. 

“Why on _earth_ did I suggest such a ridiculous idea? It seems the moment I decide to turn up again, that’s the moment the last volunteers decide to go into hiding. It was just me doing all the meals on wheels deliveries! God knows where Naomi Mellinger and Joan Shanks had got to.”

“Well, Joan certainly wasn’t at the council meeting.” Evadne came in from the hall and dropped herself onto the sofa next to Hilda. “I turned up to that meeting, brimming with ideas and ready to get stuck in and the only people there were the vicar and your ‘Auntie Barbara’. Mrs. Yaeger, I mean.”

She shook her head.

“And she was absolutely no help at all. Refused to discuss any of the issues on the agenda. Said she wouldn’t even consider it until Donald and I sorted out all last year’s paperwork into alphabetical order. By the time we’d finished, I was exhausted, Donald had to get off for evensong, and Mrs. Yaeger said it’d been a pleasure to spend time with me and simply toddled off home.” Evadne groaned. “So we’ve both had a pretty dreadful day.”

Hilda sighed. “And to top it all off, Maud didn’t turn up this morning. I eventually just had to leave—I couldn’t hang on any longer.”

Evadne brightened a little. “Well, that’s one good thing. If she hasn’t been here, that’s less tidying up for us to do in her wake.”

“Oh, you are awful.” Hilda gave Evadne a small smile.

Evadne pulled a face. “Well, the woman drives me up the wall sometimes.”

Hilda patted Evadne’s arm. 

“Come on, dear. A cup of restorative tea, and then we’ll get the dinner started.”

They stood and headed wearily towards the kitchen.

Evadne furrowed her brow. “I don’t think we’ve got much in though. I’m afraid I didn’t manage to get to the shops.”

“Oh, we’ve got enough.” Hilda smiled at Evadne. “And don’t worry—I’ll sort out the shopping tomorrow myself.”

 

 

“Evadne!” Hilda hurried into the kitchen, still in her coat. “Have you heard the news yet?”

Evadne looked round from the counter where she was crushing down some herbs. “No, of course I haven’t—I’ve been here all morning. What news, Hilda?”

Hilda placed her basket on the table and struck a dramatic pose. “Tewksbury Ptolman... has gone missing!”

“What?” Evadne stared at her. “What do you mean ‘missing’?”

She moved to the table to sit down, and Hilda took a chair facing her. 

“I mean he’s officially missing! I went to the butcher’s to pick up our order, and it was all cordoned off! The police were there! So I went to the bread shop and Mrs. Gladwell knew all about it. Tewksbury disappeared in the night and his father reported him missing this morning!”

Evadne frowned. “But that’s a little premature, isn’t it? Perhaps he just had to leave early for some reason.”

Hilda shuddered. “Apparently there was a… huge pool of blood. Behind the shop.”

“Well, it _is_ a butcher’s shop.” Evadne looked thoughtful. “Admittedly it is unlike Tewksbury to simply go off somewhere without saying anything but I don’t think we should panic before the police find anything to worry about. I mean, Tewksbury didn’t turn up on your list, did he? And I would have thought he’d be an obvious candidate for you to save.”

“You’re _right._ He didn’t!” 

Hilda shook her head.

“And of course he can’t be dead. You of all people would know about that.” 

She smiled a little in embarrassment. 

“I’ve been rather silly, dear, haven’t I?”

“Well, I suppose you did rather jump to conclusions...”

A small furrow appeared in Evadne’s forehead. 

“But actually, thinking about it—it’s not _that_ silly an idea, Hilda. Souls can sometimes go astray for a while. And well, I may be as old as time but there are Gods of Death from _before_ time. Sometimes they like to try and keep their hands in, and they’re not keen on filling out the paperwork, as it were.”

“Oh, Evadne.” Hilda’s eyes widened. “What if something awful _has_ happened to him? What if his wicked stepmother has done away with him?”

Evadne attempted a reassuring smile. “I don't think we’re in a fairy tale, Hilda.”

“But what if something supernatural is going on? Things do seem a little strange at the moment—everybody making themselves scarce from Stackton. Shouldn’t we investigate? The police wouldn’t know how to handle something like that.”

“Look, I’m sure everything is fine but…” Evadne held up her hands. “I don’t suppose it would do any harm to do a little investigating ourselves. Just to be on the safe side.” She lowered her hands again. “But where would we start?”

“I know!” 

Hilda sat bolt upright. 

“The problem page!” 

She rushed into the lounge and was back shortly with the Bugle. She found the right page and thrust it at Evadne. 

“Remember, ‘Auntie Barbara’ told him to come and speak to her. What if he decided to go out to find her last night and something happened on the way back? She might have been the last one to see him before whatever happened— Happened.”

Evadne considered the page and nodded slowly. “Yes, good idea, dear. It’s certainly worth a shot.” She looked up. “Let’s go and see Mrs. Yaeger.”

 

 

They decided to take the Rolls.

“So you definitely know where she lives?” asked Evadne. 

Hilda eased the car down a side lane towards the common. “Yes, dear. I gave her a lift home after I met her at the Bugle’s office. Seemed a nice enough woman. Bit strange, but I’m used to that living with you.”

Evadne sighed. “Thank you, Hilda.”

Hilda was still concentrating on her driving. “And she did actually say I was free to come and visit her if I wanted. Even kindly invited you to come along too.” Hilda stared ahead. “It’s a little wooden prefab down there somewhere. So, let me just pull up here, and…” Hilda applied the handbrake. “Right, there we are.”

“There we are?” Evadne gazed about. “I can’t see any buildings at all, Hilda.”

Hilda pointed. “It’s just over ther—” She stopped and frowned at the undeniably prefab-free space. “Oh. I could have sworn it was there.” She shook her head. “It must be my memory playing tricks—I did only come here the once. Perhaps it’s further down on the common.”

“Well, come on then.” Evadne opened the passenger door. “Let’s see if we can track this place down.”

They both alighted from the car and set off. 

 

 

Three-quarters of an hour later they were still walking and searching. 

Hilda looked down at her not terribly sensible shoes and moaned quietly. “Where on earth can this wretched place be?” 

She looked at Evadne. 

“I’m sorry for bringing you on this wild goose chase. Probably the ‘Auntie Barbara’ letter had nothing to do with anything at all.”

She looked away from Evadne and around at the common and increasing number of trees.

“And I didn’t realise finding Mrs. Yaeger’s place would be such an _ordeal.”_

“Ha!” Evadne nodded in firm agreement as she trudged along beside Hilda. “‘Ordeal’ is the right word. Tramping through the woods, all alone. No sounds of life, nothing in sight but trees. I mean, to be honest, it really is like something out of an old fairy ta—” 

She froze.

“Oh, no. It couldn’t be.”

Hilda realised Evadne had stopped, and turned back to look at her. “What is it, dear?”

Evadne regarded her with wide eyes. 

“A house that isn’t where you last saw it. A house that’s an ordeal to find. A woman who hates answering questions. A woman who is called _Barbara Yaeger.”_

Hilda frowned. “I’m not following you.”

Evadne looked uncomfortable. “Have you ever heard the myth of… Baba Yaga?”

“Perhaps…?” Hilda furrowed her brow. “She’s a witch, isn’t she? Lives deep in a forest? Can be helpful, can be dangerous. Is difficult about answering questions though and if you push her too far she eats you all u—” Hilda looked aghast. “Oh, dear God! Tewksbury! Naomi Mellinger! Maud! Mrs. Yaeger’s been chomping her way through Stackton Tressel!”

She stared at Evadne.

“But she’s just a myth. Surely it can’t be true?”

Evadne looked down at the ground. “I’m afraid she’s just as real as the Grim Reaper and the Merry Bird-Scarer, Hilda.”

Hilda shuddered. She looked around and instinctively moved closer to Evadne. “Do you really think she’s eaten everyone?”

“I’m hoping that this is all a misunderstanding.” Evadne looked up at Hilda. “But… we may have to prepare ourselves for the worst.”

Hilda put her hand to her mouth.

Evadne nodded. “I think it’s time to confront Mrs. Yaeger.”

Hilda glanced about anxiously. “But how? We can’t even find her house.”

“Now I know who we’re dealing with, believe me, that’s no longer a problem.” 

Evadne’s form blurred and when it settled again she was in her other form of skeleton and dark robes. 

“I alway know how to find this particular lady.”

Evadne reached out to Hilda.

“If you wouldn’t mind holding my hand, dear.”

Hilda did so, and the spot where they’d been standing only a moment before was suddenly empty.

 

 

They reappeared in another part of the common where the trees grew even more thickly and light was scarce. 

In front of them, only a few yards away, stood a wooden prefab—or perhaps hut was a better description. About 20 feet by 15 feet, with no sign of any door or windows, and decorated with what looked worryingly like human skulls.

But the strangest thing of all about the hut was the fact that when they took a step towards it, it rose up and calmly walked away. 

Hilda clutched Evadne’s bony arm. “Are those… giant chicken legs?” she asked faintly.

Evadne didn’t answer. Instead she firmly addressed the departing hut. 

“Turn your back to the forest, your front to me!” 

The hut halted, turned, and sank to the ground, its legs tucked under it. 

A hitherto invisible door was flung open and a tall, skinny, old woman stood in the doorway and smiled at them.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Yaeger,” said Evadne grimly. “May we come in?”

 

 

The three of them stood in the hut and regarded one another.

Mrs. Yaeger was the first to break the silence.

“So. Are you two here of your own free will or are you here by compulsi—?”

“Yes, we can do without all the ritual, thank you, Mrs. Yaeger,” snapped Evadne. 

She took a step forwards.

“Or perhaps I should say, _Baba Yaga?_ Or perhaps—”

She moved very close to Mrs. Yaeger indeed.

“Perhaps I should say, _Granny.”_

“Granny?” 

Hilda stared at Mrs. Yaeger startled. 

“She’s your _grandmother?”_

A grin spread over Mrs. Yaeger’s face, which she directed at Evadne. “Hello, little Grim. It’s so lovely that you’ve come to visit me at last.”

Evadne did not appear moved by the warm welcome though. 

“Just what are you up to? Why are you here?” Evadne gestured at her form. “ And in this new disguise? I told you I didn’t ever want to see you again.”

Mrs. Yaeger waved a careless hand. “Well, that’s _why_ I came in disguise, dear. I wanted to visit my granddaughter without her immediately telling me to get lost.”

“Well, I’m telling you to get lost now!” 

Evadne spun round, her robes twirling and she stalked back towards Hilda. 

“Dearest Granny used to be _such_ a lot of fun! Always surprising me by turning up and ‘babysitting’ me during my duties. Keeping me company and making sure I was all right! What a delightful time we had together! It was _so_ kind of her to think of me!”

Evadne came to a halt next to Hilda.

“I only found out she had an ulterior motive early in the 1900s. Apparently she likes to eat freshly released souls as well as bodies.” 

Evadne’s jaw clicked tensely.

“Do you know what it’s like to have to perform a metaphysical stomach pump in order to retrieve Queen Victoria?”

Hilda looked bewildered. “You… weren’t amused?” 

“No!” said Evadne. “I wasn’t!” She turned and glared at Mrs. Yaeger. “My grandmother is nothing but trouble and I told her from then on I wanted nothing to do with her.”

Mrs. Yaeger produced a small smile. “I had hoped if I spent some time with you in disguise before announcing myself, you might have found that you still quite liked me after all.” 

Evadne shook her skull. “That’s just like you. Lies and manipulation!”

“Not to mention helping yourself to a few ‘snacks’!”

Hilda was quivering with sudden indignation. She stepped forward and tossed her head back. 

“What have you done with everyone? Where’s Tewksbury Ptolman? And Naomi Mellinger? Have you truly eaten half of Stackton Tressel, you wretched woman?”

Mrs. Yaeger’s smile wavered a little. “I swore I would always try to get on with you, Miss Bird-Scarer, for little Grim’s sake. But I have to say, you do ask a lot of impertinent questions...”

She moved towards Hilda but Evadne got in between.

“No, you don’t! Attempt to eat Hilda and you will be on the receiving end of a Heimlich manoeuvre the likes of which you will never recover from!”

“Oh, Evadne!” Hilda smiled at Evadne gratefully.

Evadne responded by putting her bony arms protectively around Hilda and glaring at her grandmother. Mrs. Yaeger rolled her eyes. 

“For heaven’s sake! I wasn’t going to eat her. In fact, I haven’t eaten… Oh, this is useless.”

She abruptly stalked past them and out the front door, and disappeared back onto the common.

“Evadne! She’s getting away!” cried Hilda. 

Evadne released Hilda from her embrace. “We’ll catch her. Just take my hand again, Hilda.”

Hilda did so, and in a blink of an eye they were back at the Rolls.

Evadne headed for the passenger side. “Get in! We should be able to track her by her wind!”

Hilda paled. “From… eating too many people?”

Evadne may have had a skull currently for a face but she still somehow managed to make her expression clear.

“No, Hilda. _Wind_ wind! It always stirs up violently and accompanies her while she’s travelling. And of course it’ll be easy to spot her in her giant mortar, as she propels herself along with her pestle.”

“She travels in a giant mortar?” 

Hilda looked confused as she got into the driver’s seat. 

“I have to say, you’re a very strange family. Still, at least I know now where your interest in herbalism comes from.”

Evadne pointed behind them. “There’s the wind stirring up now! She must be coming this way!”

A 2CV shot past them on the lane, Mrs. Yaeger hunched over the wheel.

“That’s… not a mortar,” said Evadne.

“No. It looks like she’s decided to join the modern world too!” Hilda turned the key in the Rolls’ ignition, and she and Evadne set off in pursuit.

 

 

After a relatively sedate chase up the A143, they somewhat anticlimactically ended up in a car park in Bury St. Edmunds.

The 2CV quickly found a place and came to a complete halt, but Hilda kept going.

“What are you doing, Hilda!” said Evadne. She twisted her skull round to watch Mrs. Yaeger getting out of her car and looking after them in some bemusement. 

“I’m looking for a space, dear,” said Hilda. “Can you see anywhere? This place is jam-packed. Oh, there’s one! Oh no, someone was waiting and they’ve slipped in. I’ll just go around aga—”

“For heaven’s sake—just stop the car, Hilda! We can worry about the parking space later!”

“Oh. Yes, of course.” 

Hilda brought the car to a halt and put the handbrake on.

Evadne was out of the car immediately and hurried back to Mrs. Yaeger, her robes billowing around her. 

“Don’t think you are getting away with this! I will have to report you to…” Evadne struck a pose. “The Higher Powers.”

Mrs. Yaeger rolled her eyes. “Do calm down, little Grim. Don’t get your robes in a flap.” She gestured to where Hilda was cautiously approaching them. “I wasn’t running away from you and your sidekick. I was leading you here to show you something.”

Mrs. Yaeger beckoned to them both and then began to walk away.

Hilda ran the last few steps to Evadne. “What do we do?” she whispered.

Evadne looked forwards at where Mrs. Yaeger was disappearing around a corner. “I suppose we follow her.” She looked back to Hilda. “Just… stay very close by me, dear.” 

They set off after Mrs. Yaeger at a careful distance.

Round the corner from the car park there was a brand new row of shops, most now open and full of stock, but with work still being done on the one at the far end. Mrs. Yaeger stopped at that last shop and waited patiently for Evadne and Hilda to join her.

“So just what is it you want to show us?” asked Evadne icily. “It hardly seems the time for window shopping.”

With a smile, Mrs. Yaeger simply gestured through the window. 

Evadne and Hilda looked. And inside they saw someone familiar, apparently happily discussing the flooring with one of the workmen.

Hilda’s eyes widened. “Tewksbury Ptolman!” 

“Yes. Perfectly safe and sound,” said Mrs. Yaeger smugly.

Evadne turned to her. “But what’s he doing here, in a shop in Bury?” 

Mrs. Yaeger gave a little shrug. “Mr. Ptolman, Jr. found me and insisted on my advice, so I gave it to him. His father has the right to bequeath the business to anyone he likes, but if his son isn’t going to get it… Well, then maybe he should take his skills elsewhere and set up his own business. I told him to find new premises, and just leave and sort it out without discussing it with his father. Not risk being talked out of it.”

Hilda shook her head in confusion. “But… what about that big pool of blood behind the Ptolmans’ shop? Where did that come from?”

Mrs. Yaeger looked somewhat uncomfortable. “Yes. Well. That’s simply because earlier I’d felt like a snack and so I swallowed a side of beef from the shop to keep me going. But unfortunately I felt a little unwell afterwards and…”

“Evadne…” said Hilda, blanching somewhat. “I think I feel a bit faint, dear.”

Evadne patted her arm. “I don’t doubt it. But it could have been a lot worse, Hilda.”

She turned to Mrs. Yaeger.

“So you’ve been ‘helping’ a lot of Stackton residents, have you?”

Mrs. Yaeger had recovered her poise. She regarded her granddaughter calmly. “Those that chose to come to me for advice, yes. And I either gave them that advice, or I helped them to work things out on their own. For instance, Mrs. Shanks has gone to help with some fruit-picking, where I wager she’ll be a great deal more appreciated than she is by _some_ people in Stackton.”

Hilda and Evadne glanced at each other guiltily. 

“And Mrs. Mellinger is off in a hotel somewhere, spending a few days with her latest gentleman friend, far away from all the interested parties in Stackton. It can be suffocating in a village sometimes—occasionally people need a change of air, that’s all.” Mrs. Yaeger smiled. “After all, that’s partly why I came to see you, dear.”

Evadne hesitated. “So, you really have turned over a new leaf?” 

Mrs. Yaeger nodded. “Truly I have. And… I’d like to stay for a proper visit. If you’ll let me.”

Evadne looked at Hilda.

Hilda gave her a little nod.

There was a blurring around Evadne’s form and she changed from the Grim Reaper back into Doctor Hinge. 

“Well, why not?”

Evadne gave Mrs. Yaeger a small smile.

“Let’s all get back to Stackton… Granny.”

 

 

Evadne and Hilda strolled peacefully across the common. Ahead of them was Mrs. Yaeger’s hut, with Mrs. Yaeger waiting outside. Evadne gave her a wave and her grandmother returned it.

Hilda sighed. “Isn’t it lovely to have everything back to normal? Everyone safely back from their holidays and Stackton back to being a bustling little village.”

Involuntarily, Evadne glanced ahead again at her grandmother, but then frowned at herself. “Everyone _is_ back from their holidays, aren’t they? Nobody unaccounted for still?”

“Oh, yes—!” 

Hilda hesitated.

“Well, actually… Not quite everyone. I spoke to Arthur, and Maud isn’t back yet. Apparently she’d said she was going to see a friend, but hadn’t mentioned how long she was going to stay away. I have to say Arthur doesn’t seem to be too worried though.”

Evadne looked ahead at her grandmother once again. “I daresay… I daresay Maud’s gone to stay with those cousins of hers again. In Sheerness.” 

Hilda looked forward at Mrs. Yaeger too. “Yes… I daresay you’re right.”

_“What’s_ she right about?” called over Mrs. Yaeger with a grin.

“She’s got ears like a bat,” muttered Evadne. She and Hilda increased their pace and finally reached Mrs. Yaeger. “Hilda and I were just wondering where Mrs. Print had got to.” Evadne gave her grandmother a considering look. “I… don’t suppose you spoke to her before she left?”

Mrs. Yaeger looked thoughtful. “Maud Print? Oh, yes—she wanted to find a way to stop you being bad-tempered. And I was very keen to help out as a favour to you. But in the end…” Mrs. Yaeger shrugged. “Well, I only spoke to Mrs. Print for a moment.”

Hilda turned to Evadne happily. “There you are, dear! Maud must have come up with her own solution. She took herself off for a long busman’s holiday—helping her cousins at their boarding house and giving you a break from her.”

“Yes, I rather think that must be the answer, Hilda.” Evadne began to look a little more relaxed. She smiled at Mrs. Yaeger. “So you’re definitely going today too, Granny? We can’t persuade you to stay for a little longer?”

Mrs. Yaeger returned the smile. “No, I think it is time to leave now. But it’s been a wonderful visit.”

“It has, hasn’t it? I never thought I’d say this but it’s been lovely to see you again and have you here.” Evadne beamed. “I’m so glad you were telling the truth when you said you’d turned over a new leaf.”

“And it’s all thanks to your influence.” Mrs. Yaeger gave her another small smile. “All I’ve ever wanted is just for you to be happy, little Grim.”

“Well, you’ve certainly succeeded in that.” 

Evadne gave her a warm hug, and stepped back. 

“Goodbye, Granny. And have a safe journey home!”

“Do visit again!” added Hilda enthusiastically. “It’s been quite an experience!”

Evadne and Hilda turned to make their way back to the village, looking backwards and waving occasionally as they went.

Their voices floated back to Mrs. Yaeger on the wind.

“Evadne, when we get back I’ll tell Arthur to contact Maud’s cousins, just to confirm that she’s there. She may be a nuisance sometimes but it’s nice to know that she’s safe...”

“Isn’t it? I knew Granny wouldn’t have hurt Maud, dear. Of course she only wanted to help me...”

Mrs. Yaeger watched them go and she nodded to herself. 

“Yes, I thought I’d come up with the perfect solution to stop little Grim being annoyed, when I spoke to Maud behind the butcher’s shop.”

She absentmindedly rubbed her stomach with a faint smile. 

“Unfortunately though, Maud… didn’t agree with me.”

She stepped back into her hut, and the door slammed shut.


End file.
